The present invention relates to methods of treatment of neurological disorders, including those neurological disorders selected from the group consisting of autism, multiple sclerosis, and enuresis (bed-wetting).
Autism is a syndrome of early childhood which is characterized by abnormal social relationships, language disorder, rituals and compulsive phenomena including an insistence on the preservation of sameness and uneven intellectual development. The syndrome appears to be affected by genetic factors and predominantly affects boys. Causes of the disorder are unclear although individual cases have been associated with the congenital rubella syndrome, cytomegalic inclusion disease, phenylketonuria and the fragile X syndrome.
Treatment of autism has generally been limited to systematic application of behavior and speech therapy. While therapy with butyrophenones has provided some benefits in limiting the most severe forms of behavior such therapy has not been found to resolve the psychosis. Moreover, research with serotonergic antagonists such as fenflurimine to treat unmanageable behavior remains controversial. Accordingly, there remains a need in the art for new treatments for autism.
Multiple sclerosis is a slowly progressing demyelinating disease of the central nervous system which is insidious and characterized by multiple and varied neurological symptoms characterized by remissions and exacerbations. The disease is believed to be immunological in nature but treatment with immuno-suppressive agents is not advised. Instead, treatment with oral prednisone and with dexamethasone has been common with recent treatment with interferon beta showing potentially promising results. Nevertheless, there remains a desire in the art for new and improved methods for treatment of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
Enuresis (bed-wetting) is the involuntary and repeated passage of urine while asleep occurring at an age when voluntary control is generally expected. Enuresis is familial and tends to occur more often in boys than in girls. Traditional treatments have included bladder exercises, motivational counseling, and treatment with imipramine. More recently, treatment with enuresis alarms has been preferred but is reported to have only a 70% effectiveness rate among 5 to 15-year olds with a relapse rate of 10 to 15%. Accordingly, there still remains a desire for effective means for treatment of enuresis.
Of interest to the present application is secretin which is a polypeptide hormone having 27 amino acid residues which is secreted by endocrine cells of the small intestine. Secretion of the hormone is stimulated by low pH as occurs with dumping of the food bolus from the stomach to the intestine. This low pH stimulates secretin to induce the secretion of pancreatic juice that has a high sodium bicarbonate concentrations which thus neutralized the HCl of the stomach contents. Secretin is used in diagnostic methods to determine gastric activity and small intestine function but its use has not been taught for therapeutic purposes.